Tonmeister

Tonmeister is most often found as a job description in the music and recording industries. It describes a person who is a "sound master" (a literal translation of the German word, which applies to women equally as much as men): a person who creates recordings or broadcasts of music who is both deeply musically trained (in 'classical' and non-classical genres) and also who has a detailed theoretical and practical knowledge of virtually all aspects of sound recording. Both competencies have equal importance in a Tonmeister's work.

A Tonmeister spans both Art and Technology: working with musicians on a musical level to help them achieve the best performances and interpretation; and utilizing or directing the use of appropriate technology to produce the most communicative experience for the listener. One may say that a Tonmeister would utilize the techniques of scientific measurement (microphones, digital recorders, accurate amplifiers etc.) but he or she is in the entertainment industry, too, using additional techniques to create experiences and illusions for performers and listeners.

The word 'Tonmeister' has recently been trademarked for the UK by the University of Surrey, and is applied mostly to persons who have graduated (at Masters Degree level in the UK or Germany) in Music and Applied Physics together with at least a year of appropriate industrial experience in the music or recording business. Their musical training generally encompasses a full conventional classical training including instrumental studies, conducting, composition, historic and analytical studies and performance; together with applied physics and mathematics including calculus, the Fourier transform, complex numbers, information theory and modulation techniques, acoustics, electronics and much experience in recording techniques and music technology garnered in modern studios and on many locations. A portfolio of recordings must be offered in the final degree assessment.

Education

Two European institutions offer Honours Degrees which name themselves "Tonmeister": the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany, and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Both these degree courses are regarded throughout the music industry as the 'classic' Tonmeister degrees.

University of Surrey

The University of Surrey's Tonmeister course began in 1970 (along with its programme of undergraduate studies in music alone), originally welcoming eight students per year; but this has now (2007) expanded to thirty-six students. However, the requirements for new students appear, on paper at least, to be somewhat more stringent than in previous years, A level grades requested being typically AAB in the specified subjects of Music, Physics and Mathematics. Musical performance to ABRSM Grade 7 or 8 is required.

The course aims to give its students a mix of technical and musical education and practical experience. From its earliest times, it has included a placement year (or year in industry) where students are required to undergo a full year in a professional audio role. Because of the well known name of the course placement employers include Abbey Road Studios, AIR studios, Strongroom Studios, Electronic Arts, BBC, SSL and many more top companies.

In 1998, the Course Director Dave Fisher characterised the Tonmeister course as "a course for excellent musicians/scientists who wish to acquire the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of sound recording along with an academic understanding of audio engineering, and the technology of the sound recording and broadcast industries". Its aims were described as:
* a comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge base
* intellectual and practical skills
* technical, artistic and scholarly curiosity
* motivation and self-directed learning skills
* professional skills and training
* communication and presentation skills
* self-confidence

...all acquired as appropriate for a career in audio engineering or sound recording.

Graduates of this course can be found in every corner of the audio and music industries, and can be found working at some of the most well known and famous studios in the world (such as Abbey Road, AIR studio, BBC), producing records, television and radio programmes, or researching sound reproduction and music.

Facilities

The course has three studios and three edit rooms.

The studios contain Neve V Series and Sony Oxford desks, ATC monitoring and Pro Tools systems. A large selection of microphones from many eras of recording technology is preserved in working order by the performing arts department.

But perhaps the course's greatest asset is the access it gives to musicians and performances from an extraordinarily broad range of styles both within and without the university environment. Across the years of his or her degree, a typical Tonmeister student might produce recordings of rock bands, electroacoustic and experimental music, orchestras recorded in cathedrals and the most celebrated London concert halls, chamber works, his or her own original compositions, film soundtracks, folk groups, radio and television commercials, and ambient sounds for art installations. Conversely, the student is also just as likely to find himself or herself on the performing side of the microphone.

Quality of course

In many minds, this is the best course of its type in the country and quite possible the world, due mainly to the excellent facilities, level of teaching as well as the amount of experience that students get during the placement year.

Tonmeister Institutes in Germany

* [http://194.95.94.14/ Information zum Studiengang Tonmeister an der Universität der Künste Berlin]
* [http://www.udk-berlin.de/sites/content/themen/aktuelles/index_ger.html Universität der Künste Berlin]
* [http://www.hfm-detmold.de/eti Information zum Studiengang Tonmeister am Erich-Thienhaus-Institut (ETI) der Hochschule für Musik Detmold]
* [http://www.hff-potsdam.de/_deutsch/oeffentlichkeit/home/index.php Information zum Studiengang Ton an der Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen (HFF) 'Konrad Wolf' Potsdam-Babelsberg]

Tonmeister Institute in Austria

* [http://www.mdw.ac.at/I101/iea/tm/ Information zur Studienrichtung Tonmeister an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien]

Tonmeister Institute in the Netherlands

* [http://www.koncon.nl Information zum Studiengang "Art of Sound", former "muziekregistratie" at the Royal Consevatoire, Den Haag, The Netherlands]

Tonmeister Institute in Canada

* [http://www.music.mcgill.ca/sr/build/ "The McGill Graduate Program in Sound Recording is the only program in North America to offer both a Master's and PhD degree. It follows the European Tonmeister tradition of training musicians to become sound engineers"]

Tonmeister Information

* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonmeister German-language Wikipedia entry]
* [http://www.tonmeister.de/vdt/index.php Verband Deutscher Tonmeister - VDT]

Surrey Tonmeister Institute in Great Britain

* [http://www.surrey.ac.uk/soundrec/ Surrey Tonmeister Course]
* [http://scrime.labri.fr/forum/programme/davem.htm#univers Course description by Tonmeister Course Director at Surrey]
* [http://portal.surrey.ac.uk/brochures/musicsoundrecbroch.pdf Surrey Tonmeister course brochure]
* [http://www.abbeyroad.co.uk/studio_engineers/ Abbey Road]